MOBILE, Ala. – For many years, the University of South Alabama men’s and women’s track and field teams depended on athletes who excelled in two or more specific areas to scrape up competition points in the combined events. Assistant coach Randy Flach was brought to USA to change that.

Hired to revamp the combined events program from the ground level, Flach has coached his athletes to 69 total top-five all-time records in both indoor and outdoor competition – which is reason enough to believe he’s done his job.

In four years of work, Flach has coached 12 all-Sun Belt Conference performers and a number of regional qualifiers, including 2011 NCAA second-team All-American Lindsay Schwartz, who has championed the Sun Belt Conference indoor pentathlon once and outdoor heptathlon twice, the second of which shattered the previous SBC record.

Last week, in the first meet of the Jags’ 2011-12 indoor campaign at the Birmingham Ice Breaker, Flach products Schwartz and Garrett Schumacher topped previous school records in the women’s indoor pentathlon and men’s heptathlon, respectively. Schwartz placed in the top three of all five pentathlon event and Schumacher claimed top-five spots in all but two of seven heptathlon phases.

Leah Hixon and Jasmine Ferguson joined Schwartz in the top eight. Ashton Krause and Mikel Magnusson accompanied Schumacher in the top six.

Combined events (i.e, pentathlon, heptathlon and men’s decathlon) consist of multiple trials “combined” for a total score. Seasoned athletes in these competitions must master the techniques of multiple events, while competing across the realm of jumps, vaults, sprints and throws.

According to South Alabama head track and field coach Paul Brueske, the combined events have never reached the forefront of emphasis at the university - until now.

“When I took this job, the school had a history of decent records in the combined events because good athletes were brought from their primary events to compete in them, but those events weren’t emphasized,” Brueske stated. “Since this staff was put together, we have worked to taper our philosophy around technical events such as the combined events, as our staff’s experience is in the field. Now we are seeing the fruits of our labor.”

Schwartz, who is now competing for the fourth year under Flach’s direction, personifies the ripest of those fruits. From her freshman outdoor season in 2008-09 to her sophomore outdoor season in 2009-10, Schwartz went from only competing in the 400-meter hurdles and high jump at the conference championships to winning the heptathlon, which includes the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, 800-meter run, high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin.

“Coach Flach believed I could be successful in the heptathlon during my sophomore year,” Schwartz said. “I doubted myself but trusted him and, although it took training 24/7, for seven days a week sometimes, he has developed me to the point I’m at today. We had to completely break down my running form and, if I ever was struggling, he would find a way to make it work.

“I’m competing for myself,” she added, “but I never could have reached my potential without coach Flach.”

A proven athlete in his own right, Flach was a three-time Southland Conference pole vault champion and six-time all-Southland Conference recipient during his collegiate career at Sam Houston State, where he obtained both his bachelor of science and master of kinesiology degrees (2001-07). He also set the school record in the pole vault (18-00.50) and heptathlon (5,158).

“To be successful in the combined events, it takes a long process,” Flach said. “Often times, athletes are stronger in some events than others, but it’s important to be a well-rounded technician in all phases. The learning curve takes time, which is why each day of practice before a meet carries with it a theme, or specific event to practice.

“In Lindsay’s case, for example, she performed very well in jumps, but her running needed a lot of work. So, we took it one day at a time and, pretty soon, she was calling me on Sundays, asking if I could meet her at the track. It’s the ‘Hey, coach, can we work for the seventh day in a row’ attitude that has gotten her to where she is today and what we had to hoped to accomplish as a staff since we got here.”

Brueske explained that many universities concentrate their efforts on events such as sprints or distance running, and depend on high scores in those areas to translate to victories; however, he believes that there is much to be had in a philosophy centered on the field measures.

“I knew that when I got here there was potential for development and success in the combined events area,” Brueske said. “Lots of times, teams specialize in specific areas. For example, LSU and Texas A&M center their strengths around sprints, while Arkansas has long concentrated on long-distance running and jumps.

“The spectacular sprinters we get from the football team, such as Anton Graphenreed and Ken Barefield allow us to emphasize technical events. Where most teams don’t put the time in to master technique, we can earn valuable points in competition, “ Brueske added. “ Lots of teams don’t do what we do, but if we can continue to get talented athletes that are capable of performing in multiple events, Coach Flach can develop that into regional and national talent and get the most out of our student-athletes.”

Just as multi-event athletes endlessly endeavor to perfect all aspects of competition, so the Jaguar staff has worked tirelessly to develop the most complete program possible. Judging by its first showing of the indoor season last week, Flach has his combined events cast poised to strike in all phases.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).